>My bmw 326i (e36 - 1997) >gets hot on the way to the shop, short drive >wont start >leave it to cool down >drive home >notice its getting hot af and is red when i get home.
Ive popped the hood and noticed a few things immediatly. You can see the stain from whatever ended up in the fan for a start. To the right of the engine, where the hose meets that metal part and then the box, its leaking.......somthing. Also, on the left hand side of the engine i saw some kind of thin fumes coming out.
Can anyone tell me what those parts are? They arnt labelled in the manual for some reason.
Dylan Baker
Oh, and the coolant reservoir looks like its empty, or at least nowhere to be seen near the "Kalt/Cold" marker.
Have i blown my head gasket? Is car kill? :(
Easton Adams
Heres the stain if that helps, Its a greeny-bluey white colour
this isnt a problem ive encountered before, and i dont really know what im looking at
Im hopeing some kind fellow could give me a quick rundown, even if its just identifying parts so i can research
Nathan King
Pic
Nolan Fisher
It seems to me like the cooling system has bled itself dry via the leak or somesuch.
The oil dipstic says its ok, low, but still in the band. Looking inside, looks pretty fuckin empty.
I dont know that to make of this
Ethan Murphy
...
Charles Collins
Im not a mechanical man, someone come call me retard already
Nathaniel Wood
no you're just low coolant idiot
take reservoir cap off (while engine is cool), there will be a little hole on the inside, coolant will be dripping out of it while the engine is at idle, if you grab the throttle cable and rev the engine a little then it should start pissing a healthy amount, not at you and it won't make it a mess
if you rev the engine and nothing comes out or it is still just dripping (or if it wasn't dripping at all) then you are low coolant
pour coolant in until it starts pissing out of that hole and into the reservoir
you should not need to bother with the bleeding screw or anything else, this is the easiest and most simple way to make sure your coolant is filled, everywhere else on the internet will tell you a bunch of nonsense shit and overcomplicate things
but after you know you have enough coolant then monitor for leaks
common leak spots would be a crack at the bottom of the reservoir where it connects to the radiator, you will have to replace the whole radiator
or the thermostat housing if it is still using the plastic thermostat housing, you should replace that with a metal one anyways
and obviously check the radiator hoses too
Cameron Turner
Now you have a good reason to swap this shitty fucking engine
Jordan Brooks
Cheers dude, whats the score if thats happened? Dismantle and replace?
The car will start btw, but i dont want to do it again if i can avoid it.
Kevin Powell
The M43B16 doesn't have VANOS
Angel Foster
there is no VANOS on these engines
Wyatt Bennett
It's an old BMW. The whole cooling system needs to be replaced. Not even memeing
Anthony Cruz
Thankyou
I will investigate all of that, I cant see underneath atm to confirm if theres a crack because its getting dark Its dripping with engine off, quite a lot, theres a bit of a mess underneath
No joke, tempted, but pretty skint atm Might do if this is kill and my hand is forced
Hunter Gray
Im not clear on the difference
my engine in question is a 1.6ltr if that makes a difference to distinquishing
The *whole* thing? I assume that shit is expensive
Logan Parker
not the whole thing, mostly just the plastic thermostat housing and plastic waterpump impeller
but firstly top off your coolant and check for leaks, worry about the other things later
Christopher Kelly
Now, The top pic that user posted, is laid out as described in my manual
but in mine, the battery and brake/powersteering fluid(?) are swapped round.
Does that mean anything when im trying to identify parts elsewhere, or what version engine i have?
Jack Walker
Mainly the water pump and thermostat/housing but replacing the radiator wouldn't be a bad idea.
Tyler Robinson
Thanks user, will do ill get on that
Eli Peterson
Can anyone tell me what part this is? Im pretty sure its where the leaking is
Julian Perez
top pic is from the compact/hatchbacks, your battery is in the trunk
William Thompson
Batteries here mate its even got its own little leather satchel thingy
Jordan Wood
to check leak is easy though, fill the radiator and see if it empty in the morning.
that's the airbox/air intake. There's no way water comes out from it...
Eli Nelson
Is this a RHD drive car?
Gavin Lee
Oh right! its soaked under there, ill have a look in the light and try and find out
Nolan Richardson
yes
Nicholas Bell
Wrong
Jaxson Richardson
That's why everything is flipped around up top.
Carter Barnes
you can open the airbox and see it. it looks like this, you can clean it or replace the filter. Water rarely goes there except when rainy.
Brandon Stewart
Ahh right, that makes sense
brother! well, mines only 2 door
thankyou, ill have a look just to be sure. i guess somethings definitely fucked it thats leaking lol
Jeremiah Russell
i think you mean 316i
if your car is overheating im pretty sure it's your waterpump and thermostat, its extremely common with the M43/M44 engines.
Blake Morales
Could also be the water pump. Had this issue with my GFs car, would fill it up every other say with coolant just to have it all dump out after the car was shut off. The bad pump was spurting coolant everywhere which would get onto the pulley causing smoke to billow out in the front of the car (by the reservoir.) So I wouldn't factor out a bad water pump either.
Landon Hernandez
There's no such thing as a E36 326i.
James Butler
Lol, everyone else knew what i meant Whoops
Ill check those though, thankyou
Benjamin Thompson
>My bmw
Elijah Gutierrez
>Im not a mechanical man >Owning a BMW
I hope you have deep pockets then, otherwise you're going to learn how to fix it.
Anthony Reyes
>buying a bmw >expecting a sub 2l bmw engine to be any good >expecting a bmw not to break down like the piece of shit it is
nice going there lad, shit, a friend of mine has a an e92 or whatever the fuck it's called, 2 door cope, 2.5l l6 engine and he's still fixing shit on it. it will probably never be as good as it's supposed to be, also: >2.5l l6 >barely above 200hp >no lsd
somehow you faglords sperg over these and shit on the toyobaru even though the japs built a superior machine >2.0l h4 so better for taxes in europe and nipon land >200hp >lsd rekt >inb4 slower than LE 300HP MINIVAN xD xD >inb4 JUST BUY A MOOSETANG HAHA xDDD
get absolutely destroyed by superior jap tech
Jaxson Lopez
Actually the E92 2.5L makes 216hp and the GT86 only just makes 200hp.
Joseph Ward
yes. now read that again and again for as many times as necessary to get it into your head.
a 2l N/A engine makes 200hp, a 2.5l N/A engine makes 216. which one is better?
>protip: the toyobaru engine is better and doesn't go to shit because of bullshit over-engineering.
Nathaniel Hernandez
Look, you stupid retard. You have a leak from somewhere near your waterpump (most probably your waterpump itself) that's squirting onto your fan that's spraying it around. Take it to a mechanic. >Have i blown my head gasket? If it wasn't blown before, it sure a shell would've running the coolant low and the temperature into the red.
Lincoln Smith
That's the MAF you idiot. And it has nothing to do with anything.
Robert Reed
>which one is better? The one with smooth torque delivery at mid rpm.
Zachary Cox
>hp/L is the only gauge on wut kar iz gud
Daniel Thomas
you can fix that problem with a tune, just as my friend has to fix his stupid VANOS. not what car, what engine.
Cooper Gonzalez
>not what car, what engine Same shit you fucking mouth breather.
Dominic Lopez
>deep pockets are needed for a 25 year old base model 3 series
Elijah Flores
I'm sorry you're retarded, I hope your mother loves you because no one else will. it's not the same thing, we're talking about engines. A car is not just an engine in case you haven't figured that out.
Zachary Peterson
...
Logan Wilson
nobody spergs over base model E92's. For Toyobaru money you can get a good E92 335i and tune it to 400hp easily
Andrew Perez
>when you fuck up and move the goal posts back kek
Cooper Mitchell
not such a great deal in europe where you pay out the ass for displacement, try again. maybe try reading. no goal posts were moved. nothing has been changed from my affirmation lad. I'm sorry you're triggered that an e36 lemon and sub 3l and non M bmws are complete shit lmao
Ryder Sanchez
>memes are to be taken literally Seeing as you're retarded, I'll be a little more literal with you. >hp/L is the only gauge on wut injun iz gud
Brody Mitchell
Even better, try get your hands on a pressure tester
see if you can rent one somewhere
Adam Clark
it's an important one friendo :^) stay mad
Landon Gray
>it's an important one friendo as a metric on its own, it's meaningless. Yes, I'm mad.
Jaxon Cooper
mate I'm just trying to trigger people. I like bmws and cars in general. All cars have strong and weak points. I want all of you to stop being triggered by autists like me who spout memes for no reason. I want Veeky Forums to be a place where we can talk about cars without getting assblasted because of this type of shitposting.
Matthew Wright
Wee lads, wasnt expecting a minor shitstorm over this.
For the record, i payed not much for the car, and it only has 70k on the clock. I would love to get a superior nippod rwd, but in the uk that isnt happening. Not without breaking the bank at least.
Shitposting aside, If the head gasket is blown, the car wouldnt start would it?(idk, genuinly asking) because this will still start.
I finnish work early today so im going to top up with water and check what anons have suggested.
Ive booked it into a garage, i was hoping to try and get a bit of a heads up before going in.
And to they guy harping in about needing deep pockets; What makes you say that? Are the part notoriously expensive or somthing?
And no, i didnt buy this car thinking it was some kind of powerhouse, i know this thing isnt fast.
But its fun as all hell, and i dont want it to be kill :(
Anthony Diaz
If the head gasket is blown, does that mean the car is kill?
Yup, already know that now. You would know that i know too if you read the thread. Idiot.
Henry Nguyen
Car will start with blown headgasket. However, there will be easily identifiable indicators, such as blowing a lot of smoke out the exhaust, and antifreeze mixing with the oil.
Aiden Perry
>try again No big difference between 2 or 3 liters in terms of taxes especially if you can have a car 2 times as fast. Your toyobaru apologies have obviously failed, you try again.
Joseph Ross
read
Brody Wright
ahh righto, there wasnt any smoke, and the oil wasnt milky (im told thats an indicator)
would there be any other indicators?
Daniel Cook
Have you tried maintaining your vehicle, and checking fluids more than once every blue moon?